Friday, June 11, 2010

OK. We've finished our third season of building our papercrete palace.

We started in 2008. This first photo is the shot of our space after the first day's work.That first season, we were only able to work 11 days, it was a total of 165 person hours.Here is the picture at the end of that 11th day, in which we completed the north wall of our flat (or joint or palace), on the second floor, built above two guests rooms here at Eve's Garden Organic Bed and Breakfast in Marathon, Texas.

So, we started season two in March of 2009. This second picture is the end of our first day of the second season. The goal this year was to complete the east end of our main floor, which is the stairway up to the bedroom on the third floor, and the structure of the bathroom along with the dividing wall/arch that separates a small office from the big sitting room.

Here's Noble, architect, builder, all around brainy guy on the first half of the stairway finished after about 6 days into the work. In case you haven't seen the rest of the blog, those colorful windows in the arches are booze bottles cut in half, siliconed together and placed as glass block.And, the block we use to build with is papercrete. We we make it right here at Eve's Garden out of recycled paper, recycled Styrofoam, sand, clay, pearlite and concrete.

Stairway completed and the east interior wall arch begun by day 15 in season 2.

A shot of Noble and I gazing adoringly at each other. Everyone knows how great it is to work day after day after day with your sweetie on a project like this, nothing but bliss and harmony.

This is what the east end of the joint looked like at the end of the 2nd season. We worked 30 days this season, a total of 412 person hours in 2009.

And, here's what we got done in Season 3:This is Alaine's first major arch, on the south wall of the living room. This living room is about 16 foot by 16 foot, with an arch of this height. Next year, our goal is to put a ceiling on this room. Noble wants to build a groin vault, but he can't find much information on it, SEND YOUR IDEAS.The nichos on either side of what will be french doors here are selenite rocks given to us by a great guy with a mine. His website http://www.crystallinephoenix.com

And this is the view of the west end of the joint (the kitchen), which will be the kitchen. When we started this season, there was only a two feet tall wall on the outside west wall and the south wall. Now all of the walls are done on All of the main floor of the house. Last season we got the roof on the other side of this level. This year we got the min-vaults here over the kitchen.

Total days worked in season three: 24 days.Total person hours worked in Season three: 335.

I had reported that we have worked a total 55 days, I have to update that because I hadn't included six days making blocks and four days of working on preparations (framing windows, putting up forms, etc.)So, the grand total of days that we've worked on our papercrete palace since 2008, so far is 65 days. Grand total of person hours worked on the joint: 912 person hours.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Here it is! Mini-vaults completed over our kitchen-to-be! It took three days for the two of us to finish, but we reached our goal for the season. We just have one day to get our selves together to leave for the four day journey from rural West Texas, USA to the remote beach of Punta Uva, Costa Rica.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Five days until departure from Marathon to Costa Rica and we got the vigas hoisted up so we can start the construction of our ceiling.Clyde built a similar roof scape in 36 person hours. Noble and I aren't as speedy as Clyde, plus we have to haul everything from the ground now to the THIRD! Floor!These beams are also recycled materials. They were used in a previous life as telephone poles. Noble and I carried them up here from the back yard. We think the heaviest one is about 100 pounds. I have to post a picture of my big muscles now at the end of the season. We're bulking up!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

OK, now for sure we have built the walls up to roof level in the kitchen.We decided to put a row of our home-made glass block all along the top of the walls. It's gorgeous, different combinations of blue and clear wine bottles.TOMORROW, we'll get the beams across the roof so we can start constructing the mini-vaults as the roof! And finally we'll see this arch completed too.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Well, the walls in the kitchen are nearly up. You can see the bottles formed in an arch over the windows in the kitchen. They are mostly the beautiful sapphire blue Bombay Gin bottles that I brought (empty) in my suitcase from Costa Rica. Thanks ReciCaribe!Also today we mixed a few extra handfulls of concrete in with the papercrete plaster mix so we have a very strong mix to plaster the Noble arch, cuz soon we put the vigas (beams) on top of this arch, so it has to be really strong.That's my shadow there on the left.